For Want of a Father
by K.Dowe
Summary: Words carry a lot of weight. When Daniel hears his dad tell him his true feelings on Phantom he tries to remedy his feelings on his own. However, even privately spoken words, Danny discovers, can have consequences. A misspoken wish sends the hero of Amity park all the way to Wisconsin. Inside these chapters is the new found adventures of Daniel James Masters.
1. A Hop a Skip and a Wish

A rock skipped across the water. Eight smacks before falling underneath the blue depths. Another rock chased after it. Twelve skips before sinking in the reflected tree line across the lake.

Danny exhaled. Picked up another rock, crushing it smooth with his ghostly aura. He looked back out across the water. With a flick of his wrist, the rock propelled out towards the center of the pond. Jumping to avoid its inevitable drown.

The first skip. Sure there was a long way to go. The pond was huge. But it felt possible. Just one skip at a time.

Second skip. Didn't cover as much distance as it would of liked.

Third skip.

Fourth skip.

Fifth skip.

Sixth skip.

Seventh skip. Half way there to the other side.

Sink.

"Me too, little buddy." The child collapsed on his backside. He leaned onto his elbows and tilted his head towards the sky. A hazy, light blue. Not a cloud to be seen. Three more years until college. He could do this. Danny looked down at the rocks he sat amongst. He'd thrown fifteen thus far. None made it to the other side. A chill ran down his spine.

"You all got crazy parents too, I assume?" Prodding the others for answers. Receiving nothing but silence to better hear his own thoughts. He laid down entirely, eyes closing.

'Molecule by molecule!'

Danny waved a hand slightly to try and dismiss the thought.

'Sweetie, we really should try to keep him alive, at least for awhile. Better to divulge all his ghostly secrets.'

Danny's eyebrows furrowed together.

'How are we going to hold it down to a dissection table when it has so many ghostly powers?'

'Don't worry. I've been figuring out how to ghost proof a lot more than just our ghost catchers. It really won't be a problem.'

'I can't wait to poke at the jars of organs!'

Danny groaned, rolling himself onto his side. He poked a rock with his finger. "You're the it. You're a rock. We're supposed to say it when talking about you." He spoke plainly to his new friend. Then sat up grabbing the stone but not bothering to smooth it out. Another breeze hit him, his teeth chattered. He hurled the object at the pond.

 _Sploink_

The water came up to form a drop that cascaded back down after the rock, forming a few extra ripples.

Knees pulled up to Danny's chest to give his head a place to rest. Dad had come up to him today. Asked him to help make a trap inside the house for Phantom. Guess mom tracked the flight patterns and discerned that Phantom had the most traffic inside the house. Hearing Jack's tirade was...

Danny pushed his face into his knees. Sometimes dad really missed the mark. In more ways than just target practice. Danny had asked for the topic to be dropped multiple times. Pleaded to not have to make a trap for the hero of amity park. Begged for a different way to bond with his old man. All these attempts made the older male realize one thing. His son didn't know how dangerous ghosts were. Danny didn't want to relive the talk his dad gave him an hour ago. The news critics couldn't have hit half as hard of blow on Phantoms unorthodox way of heroism if they wanted to. The man was relentless in battering Danny in issue after issue with Phantom's ability to get other people hurt.

A tear fell down Danny's cheek. More chills assaulted him. Jack was a good person, Danny was sure. But was it so much to want, was it so much to wish, "I wish Vlad were my father." He hated that man. There was nothing he wouldn't fight about. But maybe if Jack was a halfa or even understood what it was...

Desiree was not a woman to hesitate. When she got out of the ghost zone she knew only one desire for herself. Revenge. She'd find the ghost child and beat him so far down he'd be unable to get up. However, it had appeared someone already did that by the time she arrived.

She discovered a boy so mentally deluded he was talking with pebbles like they were people. He was neither his sarcastic, nor energetic self. She didn't recognize the boys aura. If her eyes had been closed, she was sure she'd be convinced she stumbled across the wrong halfa. His broken spirit reminded her of another.

She didn't realize how long she sat there watching the boy ignore her presence until he uttered his wish. It wouldn't be fair to face the boy in current conditions.

A hand rested gently on Danny's shoulder. Before he could react Desiree gently spoke, "So you wish it, so it shall be."

Phantom replaced Danny's human half where he sat. Body twisting to shoot an ectoblast at the spirit but she was already gone.

A second passed before Danny's shoulders relaxed and he slowly put his hand down. "What?" He whispered. No response came. He quietly got to his feet, "Hey! Come out and fight me like a man! Er, woman as the case may be."

There was a tingling in Danny's left leg. He flinched. It seemed as though it had fallen asleep. But the feeling wasn't contained to the spot. It spread to his right leg and he zoomed up into the air as he realized his feet would no longer support his weight. The sensation kept expanding, up his torso, across his arms, entering the cheeks of his face. It became so intense Danny couldn't identify where his body was in space. A rag doll of a boy fell back down into the ground, eyes closing as his consciousness escaped him.

Daniel dreamed of a darkness so intense it made his raven black hair jealous.

The lump that shifted in the bed only covered twenty percent of the entire area. What started as the occasional movement or twitch turned into thrashing. Danny jolted upright, gasping for air. He was confused for a moment. It took an extra second for him to familiarize himself with the scene before him. If the obscenely large balcony and bed frame didn't give it away, the thread count of the sheets certainly would have. With that thought he slowly released his clutch on the blankets. His eyes narrowed. Deftly getting to his feet he walked over to the rooms bureau. It was adorned with spaceships and science magazines. He picked up a macaroni rocket, examined it, and placed it back. There were sticker stars plastered on the walls and ceiling. Posters with Neil Armstrong and the NASA logo were placed between the stars. This was... Messed up. As if cages weren't enough, now Vlad thought he'd go back one step to bribery?

Danny looked down. He was in pajamas... ... his eye twitched at the implication of that. He kicked the bedroom door open and stampeded down the master staircase. "VLAD YOU BETTER SHOW YOUR FACE! You think this is funny!?" Danny slid against the slick tiled floor barely saving his balance.

"Daniel?" Vlad poked his head from the dinning room, "You should be changed before coming downstairs you,"

Danny let out a loud scream at him, "You're an awful person!"

Vlad's face contorted slightly, "Excuse me, young man? You will remove this fresh attitude from yourself now or else you'll be attending school without breakfast."

"You can't keep me here!" Danny retorted, "What is it? Huh?" When Vlad didn't immediately respond Danny narrowed his glare. "Huh!? Nanochips again!? You think you can control me!?"

"My boy, I'm not sure what you're--"

"ANSWER ME!"

"Do not raise your voice in this household." Vlad walked over to Danny with such presence it made the boy feel small. He shrunk back wishing his mouth had been a little smaller. "I don't know what's gotten into you but I believe you need to go back upstairs, get changed, and restart your day."

Danny gave a small nod. He barely registered himself walking himself back to where he started. Opening up his dresser and changing into his clothes. The next he knew he was sitting across from Vlad. A maid placing a warm bowl of cream of wheat in front of him. He picked up a spoon and began to stir the hot cereal.

"Are you alright?"

"What?" Danny looked up.

"You've been stirring that for a solid minute now."

"Oh." Danny lifted the spoon to his mouth before hesitating. "Is this poisoned?"

"Your imagination never ceases to amaze me. Why would I poison you?"

"..." the wish. Daniel pressed his lips together and squeezed his eyes shut. Give a hard nod, "I see."

"You see?"

"Nothing." He shoved the spoon in his mouth. This was going to require a trip to ClockWork to fix. Danny spent the rest of breakfast wondering how the oldest young ghost was doing and how he would react to Danny's plight.


	2. The Acquainted and the Friend

"I am not deluded."

"I have never met you in this life, Daniel."

The clock ticked back and forth to the sound of pacing feet on carpeted floor. The situation replayed in his head. Ghost of time, ha. Who did ClockWork think he was, anyway? Of course they'd met. One might _think_ it would be hard to forget the kid who almost caused the end of the world.

It had been a week of being stranded at Vlad's mansion. The official Saturday morning sun had come in and it was being spent far from friends. Danny wasn't allowed to eat dinner upstairs, and he had to go to school, but otherwise, the boy holed himself up in his room. With these limited interaction Danny had still managed to learn from Count Dracula, that there was a mother in the picture. Who wasn't Maddie. The topic of Madeline caused Vladimir to fidget and he would always switch topics to his wife. Apparently the woman was off in Germany doing work right now. She'd be back in another week. Danny wasn't planning to stick it out to meet her. He worked hard to avoid Vlad and learn as little about this household as one could. Even so, every few hours Vlad would knock on the bedroom door to disrupt Danny's brooding. It was nothing to admit aloud, but Danny knew he was lucky to have winded up at Vlad's and not any random parents house. The man did have a secret lab. A lab with a portal. A portal to get into and out of the ghost zone without having to fly home to Amity Park. It made visiting ClockWork much easier, even if it was a waste of effort.

Sam seemed the next logical option, since the ghost of all time wouldn't help. Tucker was an obvious no. He'd freak out about some kid in a distant state trying to contact him. Sam, though. She liked weird things, maybe it'd be strange enough to entertain her interest.

A firm rasp came on the door, "Daniel?"

It was three o'clock. That was only two hours of silence. "I'm busy, _dad_." The man on the other side of the door wouldn't let Danny call him Vlad. A sarcastic dad was the next best thing. Danny pulled out a sleek Black Berry phone from his pants pocket. Tucker would freak seeing this hefty piece of technology in his hands. It was certainly going to be a highlight in this adventure retelling.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing." A small silence. "I made you a snack if you're interested."

Danny didn't bother with an answer. He began to work on typing digits into the cellular device.

"Eight four four… Two two four… Six eight four seven."

 _Ring_

 _Ring_

 _Ri-_

"Hello?" Her voice carried with her memories of the beach, lazy movie nights, and ghost fights.

"Sam!"

"Uh… Who am I talking to?"

"My names Danny. Danny Fenton. You don't know me, but we used to be best friends."

"Okay?" Hesitation. "Listen, I don't know any Danny Fenton's. I know a Jazz Fenton"

"Yes! That's my sister!"

"I'm sorry? I didn't know Jazz had a brother."

"Well she doesn't anymore. But she used to. And when she did I was your friend. I can prove it. I know everything about you. I know your favorite color is black, and that you hate your parents and you want to become an environmentalist and you hate eating any food that has a face on it and,"

The girl thought about her wealth, and the strange callers she would have to block from time to time because someone would find her number and want money. She knew she was vocal. There wasn't much that someone couldn't find out about her. She lived her life as an open book in order to further rebel from her parental figures. This made it easy for the occasional stalker to try and rattle off to her about supposed secrets. It certainly would never make her stop her public activism. But a call like this was expected every few months. "Listen, Danny, It was great getting to talk to you. You sound like a nice kid." She offered in condolence.

"What? Sam, please, I really need your help."

"Hey, if you need a suicide hotline I can give you the number."

"What? Sam. I don't need that. I can tell you ghosts are real. I know you're obsessed with anything that goes against your parents. Think about the rebellion you could have finding out about a whole alternate dimension."

"Look, I don't really believe in ghosts. I'm goth, not a lunatic. I'm really sorry, Danny. I can't help you with whatever you're struggling with. If you believe you're being haunted I'd call the local catholic church."

"No Sam, it's not like that I," there was a beep before a long dial tone.

Danny's chest ached the longer he heard the drone. He pulled the phone away from his ear. Hung up. Exhale. The raven haired boy let his posture slouch. Two failures and he was sure he had exhausted all his options. He must be meant to fight this battle solo. He walked out of his room and came downstairs.

"Daniel." Vlad gave a small smile.

The edge of Danny's lips twitched as he returned the gesture, "Hi, dad."

"Can I talk to you."

"No."

"I don't know what's been bothering you this week."

The air smelled like fresh pizza. Danny followed the smell. On the kitchen counter was a to go box from the local pizzeria. He pulled two slices onto a piece of fine china. His stomach growled, but it was undecided if it was out of hunger or if he was having a reaction to his talk with Sam.

"If you discussed with me, I'm sure we could figure out how to work through this." Vlad continued to speak from the dinning room. "I would prefer it if your mother didn't have to see you in such an upset state. You know how these things make her feel."

"I really don't." Danny willed himself to sit across from Vlad before hunching over the table to eat. The white haired man instinctively straightened his back, picking up his tea cup and sipping.

"I'm thinking about postponing that gathering with the dignitaries. What do you think? I know you don't like them… Maybe we could just watch football instead, hm? A father son night."

"I was planning on ghost patrol actually." There wasn't a chance in heck he was going to be in a stuffy room with white collared pricks all trying to kiss at Vlad's backside. However, that sounded like heaven compared to the idea of spending quality time with Plasmius.

A shattering sound interrupted their conversation. The tea Vlad had been holding spilled across him and the cup shattered on the tile flooring. Danny sat across from a wide eyed expression. Vlad's mouth ajar as he looked across at his son. The boy's face was stuck trying to figure out if he should laugh or give a questioning look.

"Never."

"I'm sorry, wh—"

"You _know_ ghosts are not a subject in this household. Am I clear?"

"Not really."

"They are _dangerous_ Daniel. Why do you always circle back to this? They're hurting spirits that refused to go to heaven or hell and are twisted on staying and causing harm to those who still have a chance to change their ways. You aren't to go near a single ghost. They'll kill you as much as look at you." Vlad pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket. He dabbed the fabric the composed his pants.

"That's why I hunt them? To keep the public safe?"

"All this fanboy business about that Phantom ghost is getting very tiring, Daniel. Is that what this new behavior is about? Is this about the Phantom boy again?"

Wow. Some wish. Danny glared at a wall and pictured a certain black haired, green skinned, Arabic ghost. "No. It's not about the Phantom boy."

"I haven't seen him in the news for a week. Hopefully he's gone home. It's always a shame to see someone young become a ghost." Vlad excused himself to get a broom and dustpan.

Danny wanted to ask if this meant that Vlad wasn't a ghost. This wasn't the first alternate timeline he'd been to. Perhaps Plasmius didn't exist here. When Dan came around and Masters was split from Plasmius he talked about having regrets. Wishing to be a better person. Was this some world in which the hospital that diagnosed him with ecto-acne was able to remove the ghost inside? Danny's eyes followed Vlad as he worked on cleaning.

"Would you please get me another cup of tea, Daniel?"

For a second the boy sat there. He moved at a fraction less than his normal. Barely noticeable, but enough to buy a few more seconds of staring before disappearing into the kitchen. He made a new spot of tea getting back into the room and continuing his stare on Vlad from behind. The man was squatting as he used the small dust pan to gather all the ceramic. "So, what happened to Plasmius?"

Vlad's head shot up hitting the edge of the table. " _Butter_ -frigin', biscuits," he cursed. "Daniel, _where_ did you hear a name like _that_?"

"It's your name."

"Daniel."

"Did you two separate somehow?"

" _Daniel._ "

"Did the accident never happen? Did Jack never-"

"DANIEL!"

The boy fell silent

Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. What ghost have you been talking to? Was it Skulker?"

"Why would I ever talk to Skulker optionally?" Danny crossed his arms.

Words got caught in the billionaires throat. Thoughts passed his mind as he scanned back and forth between his sons eyes. "Right. I don't know where you heard that name but its best you forget it."

Teeth gritted against each other. Jaw set in place. Danny's eyes narrowed in on Vlad. "I'm heading out."

"Where?"

"The Nasty Burger!"

"Nasty Burger? What's a Nasty Burger?"

The large mansion door was pulled shut with such force it made the hallway chandelier shake.

Wisconsin had cows. Lots of cows. None of them dead and in patty shape awaiting inside a perfect hideout for teens. Danny found the next best thing was a small coffee shop serving nothing with a high enough in cholesterol to interest his teen body.

"Didn't think I'd see you here today."

Someone that looked around his age slid into the adjacent booth from the ghost boys.

Danny looked up. The kid had black hair that was pin point straight. Their bangs came down like a dagger on the left of their face. It's color faded from a black to a purple. The fellow teen's face had a thick layer of makeup adorning it. Tall and deathly thin, the kid munched on a banana nut muffin.

"I'm sorry?" Danny's eyes squinted looking at them. They were oddly familiar. The giant bags and demeanor they had about them was, in a word, off-putting.

The fellow teen broke off a piece of muffin and held it out to Danny. "Here, you should have something." His voice didn't drawl, but it did cause Danny to shudder.

"I'm really fine. What's your name?"

"Is this a joke?" The other teen smirked.

"You wear a lot of black. You remind me of Sam."

"Of who?"

"My best friend." Danny did his best to remain indifferent. There was no reason to be bonding with kids he didn't actually know.

"This is a joke." He chuckled, "That's what this is. You're pulling my leg. You think you're funny." The piece of bread went up and into his mouth.

"So are you not gonna tell me your name?" Danny's ghost sense didn't go off, but the kid looked dead. It made nerves tense from staring at the boy.

"Come on man, it's Peter. We've known each other since elementary school." They made a few hand gestures between themself and Danny, "Did Ed put you up to this?"

"Who's Ed?"

"You're doing real good, I never thought you'd become a good liar, Danny. You normally don't keep a straight face. My god, your secret would be blown if not me." The kid began to look around, as if trying to see someone who would be otherwise out of view.

"You know I'm a halfa?"

"Shhh! Not so fucking loud! Do you _want_ the world to know? Do you know what the guys in white would do to you if they found out?"

"I'm sorry but, why would I tell you this?"

"Because you felt like it?"

"What do,"

"Did you hit your head? You hit your head. You have amnesia you—" The kid pulled his phone out and began to text.

"What are you doing?" Danny reached his hand out to stop the kid. Peter dodged and moved their hands out of reach

"Texting Edward."

"I don't know who Ed is. It's bad enough you know my secret I don't want more people brought into this." Danny made another attempt at the phone

Peter rested their hands safely out of reach. "He already—What happened?"

"Look whatever you think you know about me you don't know." This must be Desiree's idea of a joke. Danny was getting sick of being the punchline. This kid was some sort of friend? He oozed of creep.

"Oh my gosh. Did you tussle with ClockWork? Was it FreakShow?" Snapping his fingers in front of danny, "Are you hypnotized?"

"Would you stop that?" Danny flicked at Peter's hand to push it away.

"My husband might have resources to help you."

It clicked. That's where Danny recognized the kid from. He saw him once in the hall at school. "Your husband? Aren't you my age? You can't have a husband if you're going to high school." There had to be some sort of way to skip this nonsense. All that was needed today was a cow in circular shape with some deep fried potatoes. Maybe another piece of pizza. He could be talking with Sam. And Tuck. None of this would be happening if he had gone to one of them to vent out his problems instead of the pond.

"Did you tussle with Desiree? Who else is powerful enough—Is it the ghost writer? I'll kick his little ass. Uh… I mean I could imagine kicking his ass. It's a satisfying image."

"Good grief," Danny let a groan escape. His head hit the table, "No. I went to the pond. I was chucking rocks." He spoke at his legs, "I just wanted to vent so I was talking at them. My dad was just,"

"Well good things always come when you relate to the rocks."

"Being a smart aleck is my schtick. And I wasn't done yet." Blue eyes met Peter's purple ones, forehead off the table. "You wanna know what's going on, don't you? Lemme tell you. I was at a pond. Minding my own. Talking out loud. Just wanting my dad understand me ONE time. That's. It. And I misspoke. And with my luck, of COURSE Desiree was behind me. Listening. And I may have used the word wish somewhere in there."

"I see." More silence followed. "So, we need to find Desiree and make a wish that fixes this."

Danny smacked his open palm to his forehead. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're not that smart Danny. I mean. You've got the A's and the 4.0, but I think that's more to do with your dad's reputation. Well, that, and your need to compete with Ed on everything. Do you want to be caught up? Because if you act this way when you meet Ed, he'll punch you in the face."

"What do you mean a 4.0—I'm failing!" There was no way he could keep up with whatever life this was.

"No. Your dad makes sure you get your homework done every day. Either as soon as you get home from school or after your 6pm family dinner. I think he's projecting his failed childhood on you." Peter put and elbow on the table and rested his cheek on the heel of his palm. He then began to grumble.

"Are we talking about the same Vlad?" Thinking back on the week he supposed the other halfa was rather persnickety about him doing his work in his room. Almost made Danny regret turning in a blank pop quiz on Friday.

"Your father?"

Danny scrunched his nose. "Let's not use that word."

"You wouldn't exist if he didn't exist. That makes him your father. He might not be your dad but he's your father. Look, I don't like science either, we could boycott it. Ed would fight us, though."

Danny pressed his lips together and let the comment roll off his shoulder. This kid wasn't his friend, he was some mirage from a wish that wasn't reality. He had bigger fish to fry. This world was—this world is fake. The thought of making Plasmius mad started to roll through his head a few times more. It lingered until Danny couldn't help but smirked. "So is Vlad gonna be upset about the pop quiz."

"You didn't do well, huh? Is now a good time to tell you about the fact you and Edward have a large pot of money going about who was going to get a lower grade on a test? And you two have tied with perfect scores so often that it's just added up to an obscene amount." Peter gave a returned smirk.

What little color Danny had in his face drained, "I don't have whatever kind of money that is."

The emo looking teen's first response was a roll of the eyes followed by, "Your dad is a billionaire."

"I am not taking Vlad's bribe money." Danny scowled. He felt another eerie chill go up his back. He choose to stare past Peter. The kids aura was almost inescapable.

"He's your dad. I don't think he's ever bribed you. Except to take away your allowance. I can consult local law enforcement, though, just to make sure that's not bribing." Voice wavering in a sing song voice. He moved his phone under the table. Eyes occasionally darting down.

"I don't need to know the definition of bribery. I need to get home. And not to the ritzy mansion where I feel like my room could fit a small house"

"Just build a spaceship if you have that much room. Fly into space, I'm sure that'd solve allll your problems."

Danny pushed both his hands against his face, running them down across his cheeks. Skin dragging down with his hands, bouncing back into place when he let go. "I would like to be filled in"

"Oh you'd like that now?" Peter nodded, "Well, you've got a lot of learning to do if you want to pass in this life."


End file.
